Hare Tonic
Hare Tonic is a 1945 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones. Title The title is a play on "hair tonic", a type of patent medicine, reinforced by Bugs' portrayal of a fake doctor at one point in the picture. A bottle of "hare tonic" would appear as a prop in a 1946 short, "The Big Snooze". It would also appear in the 1949 short "Bye, Bye Bluebeard". Plot Elmer Fudd has purchased Bugs Bunny at a local grocery store (with a sign visible in the window offering a special on "Fresh Hare") and is taking him home to make a meal. As he bounces along, he sings the tune of "Shortnin' Bread", substituting "Rabbit Stew". Bugs pops out of Elmer's basket, munching on a carrot that was in there with him, and asks, "Eh, whatcha got in the basket, doc?" Elmer replies, "I got me a wabbit! I'm gonna cook me a wabbit stew!" Bugs states his "love" of rabbit stew (though he is clearly a rabbit) and then begs to see Elmer's rabbit. When Elmer opens his basket and finds it empty (Bugs had quickly climbed out), Bugs pushes his nemesis into his own basket and then sings the tune Elmer had been singing, but then Elmer realizes he's been tricked, and so he re-reverses the switch. Foreshadowing pranks to come, Bugs tells the audience from inside the basket (à la Red Skelton's "mean widdle kid"), "He don't know me vewy well, do he?" Once at home, Bugs easily secures his escape by distracting Elmer, tricking him into thinking the phone has rung. However, just as he's about to leave, he decides he'd rather stay and heckle his would-be devourer. Bugs effects a radio broadcast that warns of the dread disease "rabbititis", which is contracted from rabbits "sold within the last three days" and which causes people to see spots and have "delusions assuming the characteristics of rabbits", among other dubious symptoms. This frightens the gullible Elmer and he informs Bugs that he is free to leave. Bugs, however, points out a sign on the door that states that the house is "QUARANTINED DUE TO RABBITITIS" and that no one can enter or leave. Thus Bugs stays to torment Elmer, and many hijinks ensue, including Bugs posing as Elmer's shower faucets {"Gurgle, gurgle. Why don't ya' pay ya' water bill, Doc?"} and a doctor ("Dr. Killpatient", parodying Dr. Kildare), and pretending to be Elmer's reflection in the mirror (a scene inspired by the famous mirror scene in the Marx Brothers' film, Duck Soup). Finally, Elmer sees Bugs' game and chases him out of the house with a shotgun. But Bugs quickly halts the chase and, in an unusually lengthy breaking of the fourth wall, even by Bugs' standards, he convinces Elmer that members of the audience, the people who are watching the cartoon, are now afflicted with rabbititus (as in they're getting fuzzy, having long ears and a white, fluffy tail), which causes Elmer to flee back into his house in terror. Then Bugs tells the audience that it was "all just a gag" and that they don't have rabbititus. He then says if they do have rabbititus, then red and yellow spots will appear, swirling. Bugs then says, "Then, suddenly, everything would go black!", as everything goes black. Availability * VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Starring Bugs Bunny! * LaserDisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition * VHS - Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny: Hollywood Legend * LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1: Side 7: Bugs Bunny by Each Director * VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director * VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 15: A Battle of Wits (1995 Turner dubbed version) * DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One * DVD - Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Wascally Wabbit (Region 2 only) * Blu-ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc One Notes * Instead of Porky Pig. Bugs appears from inside of the Looney Tunes drum munching a carrot and saying, "And that's the end!" rather than the usual "That's All Folks!" of Warner cartoons (see illustration on the right). This version of the Looney Tunes drum ending would be seen once more, in 1946's Baseball Bugs. When prints were struck for television, the ending was falsely used at the end of some television prints of the Daffy Duck cartoon, "The Up-Standing Sitter" with the 1937-38 rendition of Merrily We Roll Along. * This cartoon marks one of the few times Bugs addresses Elmer by name, albeit in the guise of "Dr. Killpatient", who addresses him as "Mr. Fudd". Despite their frequent cinematic encounters, many of their cartoons are played as if they had never met before. * The Looney Tunes Show episodes, "Peel of Fortune" and "Super-Rabbit" have Bugs coming out of the WB shield, saying "And that's the end" again instead of "That's all Folks!" at the end of the episode. * The title of this cartoon was used for a collectible card in the mobile game Looney Tunes Dash!, but for a card showing a scene from "Rabbit of Seville". Gallery Hare Tonic Lobby Card.png|Lobby Card 1 383974 291949340850056 254085481303109 923541 1898051969 n.jpg|Lobby Card 2 Hare Tonic.jpg|Bugs as "Dr. Killpatient", about to confuse Elmer again Frosty the Snowman - YouTube2.jpeg External Links * "Hare Tonic" at SuperCartoons.net * "Hare Tonic" at B99.TV Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:1945 Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:Bugs Bunny Chuck Jones Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce Category:Cartoons animated by Basil Davidovich Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Robert Gribbroek Category:Cartoons with layouts by Earl Klein Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Earl Klein Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package